ARTHUR L BRISTOL APD 97
Ship Name and Designation History
This section lists the names and designations that the ship had during its lifetime. The list is in chronological order.
Keel Laid as Destroyer Escort DE-281 Launched February 19 1944 Reclassified High Speed Transport (APD) June 17 1944 |
This section lists active links to the pages displaying covers associated with the ship. There should be a separate set of pages for each name of the ship (for example, Bushnell AG-32 / Sumner AGS-5 are different names for the same ship so there should be one set of pages for Bushnell and one set for Sumner). Covers should be presented in chronological order (or as best as can be determined).
Since a ship may have many covers, they may be split among many pages so it doesn't take forever for the pages to load. Each page link should be accompanied by a date range for covers on that page.
- Covers Page 1 (1945-46)
Postmarks
This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each name and/or commissioning period. Within each set, the postmarks should be listed in order of their classification type. If more than one postmark has the same classification, then they should be further sorted by date of earliest known usage.
A postmark should not be included unless accompanied by a close-up image and/or an
image of a cover showing that postmark. Date ranges MUST be based ONLY ON COVERS IN
THE MUSEUM and are expected to change as more covers are added.
>>> If you have a better example for any of the postmarks, please feel free to replace the
existing example.
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Postmark Type |
Date From to Date To |
Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image |
Thumbnail Link To Cover Image |
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Locy Type |
1946-03-04 |
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Note:
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Locy Type |
1945-10-01 |
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Other Information
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons...
American Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal
NAMESAKE - Arthur LeRoy Bristol, Jr. USN (July 15 1886 - April 27 1942)
Bristol entered the Naval Academy on September 23 1902 and graduated with the Class of 1906. After the prescribed two years of sea duty, which he served in the predreadnought USS ILLINOIS BB-7 he received his commission as Ensign in 1908. Transferred to USS MAYFLOWER PY-1 in 1909, he remained in that Presidential Yacht until ordered to Berlin, Germany, in January 1912 for a year and one-half as a naval attache. In June 1913, he returned home to command the new destroyer USS CUMMINGS DD-44 upon her completion at Bath Iron Works. A year later, he received the concurrent command of Destroyer USS TERRY DD-25 and the 2d Division, Reserve Torpedo Flotilla, Atlantic Fleet. He then briefly commanded USS JARVIS DD-38. Late in 1915, Bristol was assigned the duties of aide and torpedo officer on the staff of Commander, Torpedo Flotilla, Atlantic Fleet and, in the winter of 1916, he became aide and flag secretary to the Commander, Destroyer Force, Atlantic Fleet. In the summer of 1917, soon after the United States entered World War I, he became aide and flag secretary for Commander, Cruiser Force, Atlantic Fleet. After serving in that capacity into the following winter, Bristol was awarded The Navy Cross for his service as flag secretary and acting chief of staff to Commander, Cruiser and Transport Force. While holding that post, he worked closely with Army authorities in the handling of troopship movements. Later, as flag secretary for the Commander, Cruiser and Transport Force, he earned the Distinguished Service Medal. Going ashore in February 1918, he labored in Washington through the end of World War I and into the spring of 1919 on duty in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. Bristol then commanded USS BRECKINRIDGE DD-148 and USS OVERTON DD-239 in succession, serving in the latter during that ship's operations in the Black Sea during the capitulation of White Russian forces to the Bolsheviks in November 1920. For his services rendered during the evacuation of the Crimea, a grateful Russian government-in-exile presented him with the Order of St. Stanislav, III Class. Detached from OVERTON in August 1921, Bristol again served in Washington attached to the General Board and then went to Philadelphia to assist in the decommissioning of destroyers. A course of instruction at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I., occupied him from July 1922 to May 1923, and he next served as an instructor on the staff of that institution from May 1923 to May 1924. Following a brief tour as aide for Commander, Scouting Fleet, he sailed to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to join the American naval mission there. Reporting to the battleship USS ARIZONA BB-39 in February 1927, Bristol served as executive officer of that dreadnought until April of the following year and then moved to the Naval Air Station (NAS), San Diego, Calif. for aviation instruction. Following further flight training at NAS, Pensacola, Fla., he was designated a naval aviator and was sent to the Asiatic Fleet, where he served as commanding officer of the Seaplane Tender USS JASON AV-2 and later, as Commander, Aircraft Squadrons, Asiatic Fleet. Detached in the spring of 1931, he checked in briefly at the Office of Naval Intelligence in Washington before proceeding on to the United Kingdom to become naval attache in London on October 1 1931. A brief stop in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations upon his return from England in the spring of 1934 preceded his traveling to the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Va., as prospective commanding officer of the new aircraft carrier USS RANGER CV-4. The original commanding officer of the Navy's first aircraft carrier to be built as such from the keel up, Bristol took RANGER to South American waters on shakedown and commanded her thereafter until June 1936, when he became Commanding Officer, NAS, San Diego. During the latter tour, he served on the Hepburn Board, participating in the investigations into suitable base sites in the United States and its possessions. Becoming Commander, Patrol Wing 2, at Pearl Harbor, T.H., on July 27 1939, Bristol was given flag rank on August 1 and, the following summer, became Commander, Carrier Division 1. He then served as Commander, Aircraft, Scouting Force (September 18 to October 12 1940), and as Commander, Patrol Wings, United States Fleet (October 12 1940 to January 23 1941) before reporting to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations on January 25 1941. With increasing American alarm over the course of the Battle of the Atlantic, the Roosevelt administration took steps to aid the British. To help escort convoys across the Atlantic, the Navy established the Support Force, Atlantic Fleet, and based it at Newport, R.I. On March 1 1941, Rear Admiral Bristol became the Force's first commander. He held this important position throughout the tense, undeclared war with Germany in the summer and autumn of 1941 and through America's entry into the global conflict on December 7 of that year. Designated Vice Admiral on February 27 1942, Bristol remained in that important command until he suffered a fatal heart attack at Argentia, Newfoundland, on April 27 1942.
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